Hello world,
In short, it was a fantastic vacation. Phillip liked the fact that people approached us as if we were locals-often coming up to us speaking another language and walking away dazed and confused when we just looked at them with a 'Whaaaaat' reaction? Brittney wished she had warmer clothes, especially in Tulone. But she really enjoyed everything and felt so fortunate to be able to take such a trip.
In case you were wondering, Phillip approves of the cruising method, although, we both agree that things get expensive on board.
Also, there was one night where we sailed through a storm or something, the waves were awfully loud and the boat swayed throughout the night. Few people got any sleep, and if they did, they were greeted with nightmares of Titanic. One cruise staff told us that it is a fact that people put on an average of 4 pounds/day on a cruise. That seemed extreme, although we did see people eating all the time. We were not so glutinous. And luckily we were able to have the gym to ourselves each morning. Also, our new friends Aimee and Megan are personal trainers and gave us a session-we couldn't walk or lift non-heavy things for about three days.
So, it is back to reality. School/work starts tomorrow. Our next trip will be in Spring Break, although we are not sure if we will go anywhere. At any rate, living here is an adventure so we are sure we will have another update within the month.
Until next time...
-B and P
There is so much to say about our trip, and hundreds of photos, we will do out best to be concise. But come on...we just spent 14 days in Europe and 11 of them were on a cruise...
After about 6 hours of flying (Dammam to Istanbul, Istanbul to Rome), we finally arrived to the brisk clean air of Italy. We were off the plane, through immigration and with our luggage in less than 10 minutes. As a result we were able to catch an earlier bus to the Metro station.
We found our Bed and Breakfast and lugged everything up several flights of stairs, 82 steps since you really want to know, only to surprise (early arrival) our host, Daniele. He was cleaning our room but was eager to tell us all the places we should go....like the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain and various other monuments, where to find the BEST coffee shop, the BEST gelato, The BEST tiramisu, and the BEST daily homemade pasta. He got a map and circled about 15 different things and drew lines and arrows and notes all over it. Nearly making the map useless, but he pointed out that he gave us two maps, one with notes and one without -Grazi Daniele!
Initially, we assumed he was making suggestions for our three day stay, but then he said with his accent 'yes-uh...you should-uh be back-uh around-uh 8pm-uh'. No way were we going to see ALL those things in a few hours but we certainly would try. We shuffled our backpacks and started walking...to our surprise, we saw nearly everything he suggested!
However, we took our time over the next few days to revisit some places and discover some more.
Our last day was filled with a FOOD TOUR! Ideally, we like to book these on the first day somewhere-it gives you a really good layout of a town and they always provide maps of all the best food with coupons and suggested menu choices. But being that we arrived on Christmas, we had to hold off and book the tour for our last day there. It was an amazing tour and the town we explored was splendid-nearly all shops were family owned for 5+generations! One stop was at the #3 Pizzeria in Italy. Our guide asked if anyone would be in Naples and when we told her we would, she gave us the name of the #1 Pizzeria in Italy (see below). The tour also provided us with buffalo mozzarella, gelato, cheese, wine, proucitto, bruschetta, and pasta.
Cruise highlights:
Florence, Italy
Wine tour in a castle-we could probably stop right there but allow us to continue.... This was amazing. The castle is the only one in the region inhabited year round, as there is no heating so they become quite cold in non-summer months. The castle was also originally owned by the Pazzi family, around the 1470s they were in a bloody feud with the Medici family...Medici's won. The castle has an interesting history, beautiful grounds, maintained well, the Chianti is delicious and the olive oil was quite impressive. Also, we found a gluten free pizzaria in town that was so delicious, although, we are pretty sure we saw the chef get fired and kicked out while we were there.
Monte Carlo, Monaco
The weather was perfect. Everything was quite posh and glitzy. The fararis and lamborghinis were prevalent, and the property value is astronomical. The combination of oceanfront property everywhere, no tax, casino, and just overall 'image' allow for such prices-only mega wealthy live there. Visually, it reminded us of La Jolla, CA, but the overall lifestyle there was over the top.
Toulon, France
It was very very cold this day. We explored the local market and ate some macaroons. We did not get lost, but we were so cold that we just walked as fast as we could until we saw something interesting-like free chocolate tasting! We did not mind walking aimlessly because everything seems so nice when you walk on cobblestone.
Barcelona, Spain
Here we saw the location for the 1992 Olympic site where the Dream Team played. We also saw tons of FC Barcelona memorabilia (unfortunately, it was items you can find anywhere). We drove past the place where Pablo Picaso lived. But we also saw the architecture of Antoni Gaudi. The name was familiar to us but we did not know why. His buildings were impressive and stood out among the other more traditional styles of the time. There is a lot to say about this visit, and here is a good place to learn more: (http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/sf-eng/docs_instit/historia.php) Make sure you are using the English translation, and start with History>Origins, and work your way through Present. Or just review the Chronology tab)
Valencia, Spain
Here we took a shuttle bus into town and just stared exploring once we found a map. We started at the local market and became jealous of the locals. It was amazing how fresh their food was, and all on one place. After than, our goal was to find this vegan restaurant we heard about, but it was closed. So then our goal was to eat Paella and drink Sangria. Paella is a Spanish rice that originated in Valencia. It was delicious! We also tried to find the silk market and we found it without even knowing. We were the token tourists wandering in circles with our map, only to find out that we were circling the building on three sides. It was the nice man at the loose leaf tea shop that cleared things up for us. Unfortunately when we actually found it (for the 4th time), it was not what we had hoped for-it was more of a museum than a silk market. No actual silks for sale.
Day At Sea/On the Ship
We had one whole day at sea and the cruise directors packed the ship with fun activities. Phillip participated in some basketball tournaments. We got to play in a few trivia games, we explored the ship, checked out some books from the library, played sudoku, had drinks, met new people, tried the casino. It was a nice slow day.
Although the following did not happen on the same day, this would be a good time to share about things we did on the ship after our excursion ports:
-Phillip was asked on stage for the Comedy Quartet. He had to play the cello while the actual celloist made him look like a fool. After this he was the celebrity of the ship.
-New Years Eve, we opted to open our dinner table up to other guests. It was this night that we met an awesome Australian couple, Megan and Aimee. We are so glad we met them because the four of us really had a great time together bringing in the new year and enjoying our vacations.
-There were several theater shows. Some not so great, others pretty good, but one was OUTSTANDING. It was an acrobat couple from Poland.
-The ship facilitates a Deal or No Deal game show-it was always Phillip's dream to be a contestant on this show (he even auditioned in 2008) so naturally we bought a ticket...but we were not selected. Watching the show was still a lot of fun.
-One night we participated in the Newlywed/Not so Newlywed game show. Bad idea. We were total losers and got one question right. To make it even worse, the show was filmed and played OVER and OVER in all the staterooms during the day at sea and for the next two days. Now we were D-list celebrities of the ship. But, we got a cool flashlight and champagne that we shared with Megan and Aimee.
-One evening we decided to play 70s name that tune trivia when a nice German teacher from Australia asked to join our team. She had a friend that would be joining us too, the friend was a music teacher at the same school. Our team name was 'teachers on holiday'. Together, we dominated the trivia arena. The Australian teachers knew a lot about European history, traditional music, and science. Phillip carried the team with American History questions, and Brittney blew everyone away with her Disco knowledge. We became the team to beat. We eventually started going every evening and other people were afraid of us. Not really, but we had a reputation of being pretty good.
-For Brittney's birthday, we made reservations for the Tempannyaki restaurant. It was delicious and fun. Especially when the chef unknowingly cracked an egg on his head.
Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
In Sardinia we took a quick bus tour of the largest city of Cagliari. We saw the Cathedral that stars as a sister city of Buenos Aries Argentina, so the Pope visited last Spring because he is from Argentina. On our way to the ancient Nora ruins site we saw pink Flamingos eating in the lagoons. They migrate between African and southern Europe during this time. On our way we passed by lots of green farms that reminded us of Sonoma County and one large gas factory that unfortunately reminded us of Jubail. After about 40 minutes we made it to the site of Nora that had been conquered by the two biggest empires of the Mediterranean the Phoenicians and the Romans. It was interesting to see the difference in architecture and the different building styles. We also saw how the Romans included their sewage system and a small 100 person amphitheater. The city of Nora was out on a point with docking positions on three sides. There were passing clouds this day and it was very cold when the wind picked up.
Carthage, Tunisia
Resembles Arabic style of Saudi...but does not smell like Saudi. They produce perfumes oils so the souks actually smell quite nice. Also, the use of mosaic tiles was visually appealing. We are just happy to say that we were in Tunisia at this time. Many people were hesitant to port here, some did not even exit the ship. To us, things looked like Saudi so it did not seem too 'uncomfortable'. Although, Brittney wore tights and wished she had her Abaya. To be in an Arab world without an abaya sometimes feels uncomfortable to her. She decided to wrap her shall around her waist instead.
Palermo, Sicily
It was January 6, Kings day, so most things were closed. We ported right in the city so it was mainly like most cities-tall buildings with shops. Except most shops were high end boutiques. We eventually found a nice place to eat and use wifi. Overall, we were a little disappointed with our stop in Sicily. However, we did find the cheapest wine. 1 litre for 8 euro....
Naples, Italy
Initially, we assumed he was making suggestions for our three day stay, but then he said with his accent 'yes-uh...you should-uh be back-uh around-uh 8pm-uh'. No way were we going to see ALL those things in a few hours but we certainly would try. We shuffled our backpacks and started walking...to our surprise, we saw nearly everything he suggested!
However, we took our time over the next few days to revisit some places and discover some more.
The Victor Emmanuel Monument
Trevi Fountain
 |
St. Peter's Square/The Vatican
Around town
The Colosseum
Our last day was filled with a FOOD TOUR! Ideally, we like to book these on the first day somewhere-it gives you a really good layout of a town and they always provide maps of all the best food with coupons and suggested menu choices. But being that we arrived on Christmas, we had to hold off and book the tour for our last day there. It was an amazing tour and the town we explored was splendid-nearly all shops were family owned for 5+generations! One stop was at the #3 Pizzeria in Italy. Our guide asked if anyone would be in Naples and when we told her we would, she gave us the name of the #1 Pizzeria in Italy (see below). The tour also provided us with buffalo mozzarella, gelato, cheese, wine, proucitto, bruschetta, and pasta.
Cruise highlights:
Florence, Italy
Wine tour in a castle-we could probably stop right there but allow us to continue.... This was amazing. The castle is the only one in the region inhabited year round, as there is no heating so they become quite cold in non-summer months. The castle was also originally owned by the Pazzi family, around the 1470s they were in a bloody feud with the Medici family...Medici's won. The castle has an interesting history, beautiful grounds, maintained well, the Chianti is delicious and the olive oil was quite impressive. Also, we found a gluten free pizzaria in town that was so delicious, although, we are pretty sure we saw the chef get fired and kicked out while we were there.
The weather was perfect. Everything was quite posh and glitzy. The fararis and lamborghinis were prevalent, and the property value is astronomical. The combination of oceanfront property everywhere, no tax, casino, and just overall 'image' allow for such prices-only mega wealthy live there. Visually, it reminded us of La Jolla, CA, but the overall lifestyle there was over the top.
Toulon, France
It was very very cold this day. We explored the local market and ate some macaroons. We did not get lost, but we were so cold that we just walked as fast as we could until we saw something interesting-like free chocolate tasting! We did not mind walking aimlessly because everything seems so nice when you walk on cobblestone.
Barcelona, Spain
Here we saw the location for the 1992 Olympic site where the Dream Team played. We also saw tons of FC Barcelona memorabilia (unfortunately, it was items you can find anywhere). We drove past the place where Pablo Picaso lived. But we also saw the architecture of Antoni Gaudi. The name was familiar to us but we did not know why. His buildings were impressive and stood out among the other more traditional styles of the time. There is a lot to say about this visit, and here is a good place to learn more: (http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/sf-eng/docs_instit/historia.php) Make sure you are using the English translation, and start with History>Origins, and work your way through Present. Or just review the Chronology tab)
Valencia, Spain
Here we took a shuttle bus into town and just stared exploring once we found a map. We started at the local market and became jealous of the locals. It was amazing how fresh their food was, and all on one place. After than, our goal was to find this vegan restaurant we heard about, but it was closed. So then our goal was to eat Paella and drink Sangria. Paella is a Spanish rice that originated in Valencia. It was delicious! We also tried to find the silk market and we found it without even knowing. We were the token tourists wandering in circles with our map, only to find out that we were circling the building on three sides. It was the nice man at the loose leaf tea shop that cleared things up for us. Unfortunately when we actually found it (for the 4th time), it was not what we had hoped for-it was more of a museum than a silk market. No actual silks for sale.
Day At Sea/On the Ship
We had one whole day at sea and the cruise directors packed the ship with fun activities. Phillip participated in some basketball tournaments. We got to play in a few trivia games, we explored the ship, checked out some books from the library, played sudoku, had drinks, met new people, tried the casino. It was a nice slow day.
Although the following did not happen on the same day, this would be a good time to share about things we did on the ship after our excursion ports:
-Phillip was asked on stage for the Comedy Quartet. He had to play the cello while the actual celloist made him look like a fool. After this he was the celebrity of the ship.
-New Years Eve, we opted to open our dinner table up to other guests. It was this night that we met an awesome Australian couple, Megan and Aimee. We are so glad we met them because the four of us really had a great time together bringing in the new year and enjoying our vacations.
-There were several theater shows. Some not so great, others pretty good, but one was OUTSTANDING. It was an acrobat couple from Poland.
-The ship facilitates a Deal or No Deal game show-it was always Phillip's dream to be a contestant on this show (he even auditioned in 2008) so naturally we bought a ticket...but we were not selected. Watching the show was still a lot of fun.
-For Brittney's birthday, we made reservations for the Tempannyaki restaurant. It was delicious and fun. Especially when the chef unknowingly cracked an egg on his head.
Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
In Sardinia we took a quick bus tour of the largest city of Cagliari. We saw the Cathedral that stars as a sister city of Buenos Aries Argentina, so the Pope visited last Spring because he is from Argentina. On our way to the ancient Nora ruins site we saw pink Flamingos eating in the lagoons. They migrate between African and southern Europe during this time. On our way we passed by lots of green farms that reminded us of Sonoma County and one large gas factory that unfortunately reminded us of Jubail. After about 40 minutes we made it to the site of Nora that had been conquered by the two biggest empires of the Mediterranean the Phoenicians and the Romans. It was interesting to see the difference in architecture and the different building styles. We also saw how the Romans included their sewage system and a small 100 person amphitheater. The city of Nora was out on a point with docking positions on three sides. There were passing clouds this day and it was very cold when the wind picked up.
Carthage, Tunisia
Resembles Arabic style of Saudi...but does not smell like Saudi. They produce perfumes oils so the souks actually smell quite nice. Also, the use of mosaic tiles was visually appealing. We are just happy to say that we were in Tunisia at this time. Many people were hesitant to port here, some did not even exit the ship. To us, things looked like Saudi so it did not seem too 'uncomfortable'. Although, Brittney wore tights and wished she had her Abaya. To be in an Arab world without an abaya sometimes feels uncomfortable to her. She decided to wrap her shall around her waist instead.
Palermo, Sicily
It was January 6, Kings day, so most things were closed. We ported right in the city so it was mainly like most cities-tall buildings with shops. Except most shops were high end boutiques. We eventually found a nice place to eat and use wifi. Overall, we were a little disappointed with our stop in Sicily. However, we did find the cheapest wine. 1 litre for 8 euro....
Naples, Italy
A short story of the Magharita Pizza. In 1889, the Queen Margherita of the new country of Italy visited Naples. The Chef wanted to impress them with a creative food dish. Using leftover items (as they often did), he flattened some dough and added toppings. In an effort to represent Italy, he used RED tomatoes, GREEN basil, and WHITE mozzarella. The queen loved it, so in her honor it was called the Magharita pizza!
However, in 1887, (two years prior) a man named Michael started making pizzas just outside of Naples by 1906 he had opened a restaurant and started selling them. To this day they sell only two kinds: Marinara and Magharita. As the very old grandson of Michael quotes his grandfather as saying, "There are only two types of Neapolitan Pizza, the 'Marinara' and the 'Margherita' and no 'junk' should be used in preparing the pizza, because it could only alter its world famous genuineness and taste." No wonder Julia Roberts and the Directors of Eat, Pray, Love decided to film here.
We had both styles and a water for a total of 10.50 Euros (our least expensive meal of the trip)...and yes, it was the best pizza we have ever had in our entire lives. Actually, it is sad to write about it now, because we wish we could eat it and share it with you, because you are probably sad to be reading about it but not experiencing it. Oh boy it was amazing. And, the grandson making them was probably as old as the restaurant. He worked at a small table with only 8 ingredients: dough, olive oil, garlic, tomato, basil, cheese, mozzarella, and salt.
However, in 1887, (two years prior) a man named Michael started making pizzas just outside of Naples by 1906 he had opened a restaurant and started selling them. To this day they sell only two kinds: Marinara and Magharita. As the very old grandson of Michael quotes his grandfather as saying, "There are only two types of Neapolitan Pizza, the 'Marinara' and the 'Margherita' and no 'junk' should be used in preparing the pizza, because it could only alter its world famous genuineness and taste." No wonder Julia Roberts and the Directors of Eat, Pray, Love decided to film here.
In short, it was a fantastic vacation. Phillip liked the fact that people approached us as if we were locals-often coming up to us speaking another language and walking away dazed and confused when we just looked at them with a 'Whaaaaat' reaction? Brittney wished she had warmer clothes, especially in Tulone. But she really enjoyed everything and felt so fortunate to be able to take such a trip.
In case you were wondering, Phillip approves of the cruising method, although, we both agree that things get expensive on board.
Also, there was one night where we sailed through a storm or something, the waves were awfully loud and the boat swayed throughout the night. Few people got any sleep, and if they did, they were greeted with nightmares of Titanic. One cruise staff told us that it is a fact that people put on an average of 4 pounds/day on a cruise. That seemed extreme, although we did see people eating all the time. We were not so glutinous. And luckily we were able to have the gym to ourselves each morning. Also, our new friends Aimee and Megan are personal trainers and gave us a session-we couldn't walk or lift non-heavy things for about three days.
So, it is back to reality. School/work starts tomorrow. Our next trip will be in Spring Break, although we are not sure if we will go anywhere. At any rate, living here is an adventure so we are sure we will have another update within the month.
Until next time...
-B and P
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